EVALUATION OF VIRTUAL LESSONS DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC LOCKDOWN: THE CREATIVE ARTS STUDENTS’ EXPERIENCE.
Date
2021-10-17
Authors
Nweke, F.E.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
World Alliance for Art Education (WAAE) 2021 Conference
Abstract
The horrendous experience brought upon the world by the deadly COVID-19 pandemic did not only wreak havoc in the economic sectors and health sectors it also affects the educational sectors. Teaching and learning came to a halt at some points as students were made to sit at home. Some schools, after a while, started online virtual classes; different platforms were therefore used to achieve these purposes, such as Google classroom, Edmondo, telegram, YouTube, LMS, Microsoft team, zoom classroom, and so on. In Nigeria, few schools engaged their students in virtual classes at the university level. For instance, the use of the Learning Management System (LMS) introduced as a teaching platform for the undergraduates and the postgraduate students at the University of Lagos, Nigeria, during the COVID-19 pandemic that happened in almost all parts of the world, was a new experience for most students at the Department of Creative Arts. This study examined how the undergraduate students within the Department of Creative Arts, comprising students studying music, visual arts, and theatre arts, perceived, preferred, responded and utilized the LMS platforms to access their classes and the examination that took place months after receiving lectures. The majority, 53 percent of the respondents are female, 75 percent of the respondents in Theatre Arts are female while 61 percent and 69 percent of respondents in Visual Arts and Music are males respectively. Those in age’s 21-25years account for nearly half, 49 percent with more in Theatre Arts. There are more students in the Music department who are older than 30 years compared to Visual and Theatre Arts. It is evident from the study that nearly 9 in 10 (86 percent) of the students are running a full-time programme with more in the Theatre Arts and least in Music. Nearly 14 percent of the students are running ICE programme where Music department leads. The 400 level students which account for 35 percent tops over other levels while it follows by 200 and 300 levels which account for 24 percent and 23 percent respectively. The proportion of the final year students that participated in the study is nearly 1 in 10 of the entire respondents among these, the level account for 1 in 4 (25 percent) in the Music department. Few of the respondents were not technologically savvy despite the school's initial training. However, some of the respondents in this study expressed their disappointment at the low and sometimes internet interruption and disruptions that hindered them from benefiting immensely from the virtual class. By infrastructural deficiency, I mean the low-level penetration of communication/internet, network in Nigeria. This raised a lot of negative emotions while approaching their examinations. When the tests finally started, some students expressed some level of joy as the multiple-choice questions made them start and finish their examination questions right on time. This study concluded that infrastructural deficiencies in third world countries like Nigeria are crucial challenges in the maintenance of teaching, learning and research networks. Hence, the study recommends introducing information and computer technology class included at all level of the education system in Nigeria. Students should also get financial supports from government and stake-holders to enable them have internet enabled devices at a time like this.
Description
Scholarly article
Keywords
Teaching and learning , COVID-19 Pandemic , Technology , Health sector , Research Subject Categories::HUMANITIES and RELIGION::Aesthetic subjects
Citation
Nweke, F.E. (2021). EVALUATION OF VIRTUAL LESSONS DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC LOCKDOWN: THE CREATIVE ARTS STUDENTS’ EXPERIENCE. US. World Alliance for Art Education (WAAE).